The dark river

Roni Horn, Still Water (The River Thames for Example), 1999
low-resolution photograph taken at MOMA, New York

There is a brief clip of Roni Horn talking about her river Thames photographs on the PBS site. In the full interview she discusses the paradoxical nature of water, to which her art often seems to be drawn. Water is mutable, depending on its surroundings, and yet always basically the same. Fixing an image of the constantly changing surface of the Thames is like making a portrait. It has hidden forces – strong tides – and dark undercurrents: she notes its popularity with suicides. Ultimately the river can embrace many presences and yet still retain its essential nature as simple water.

Postscript: it is now possible to embed a video clip from the Whitney Museum